Obama talks about reason for visit at Broadmoor fundraiser

Senator Barack Obama arrived at a campaign fundraiser at The Broadmoor, a resort located outside Colorado Springs, shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday night.

By fundraising standards for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, it was a fairly small crowd, with about 200 people filling less than half of a basement ballroom.

Obama was late walking onto the stage, in part, because a Colorado Springs police officer was involved in a motorcycle accident while riding alongside Obama's motorcade earlier Wednesday evening. Campaign aides and the Secret Service reported the injuries were minor.

A few minutes into the fundraiser, Mr. Obama announced the incident to the crowd. He said he had spoken by telephone to the officer, Jerry Orvin, who was released from a local hospital.

"It turns out he's OK," Mr. Obama said. "I called him and he said it's all part of the job. He's doing all right."

The fundraiser, which had a minimum contribution of $1,000, drew supporters of all ages. As he often does, Obama noted that the Democratic primary lasted a long time. He hinted that he had aged in the process.

"I can tell you, the gray is coming quick," Obama said. "By the time I'm sworn in, I will look the part."

He spoke for less than 20 minutes, reprising familiar themes of his speeches. He said Democrats should not be worried that he and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton - and their supporters - would allow any resentment to carry over into the fall campaign.

"We put that to rest in Unity, New Hampshire last week," Obama said. As he continued his praise of Clinton, a woman in the crowd yelled, "Thank you!"

The fundraiser comes as Obama is on a weeklong tour of red states. He said he was asked by a local television reporter earlier in the day why he was bothering to come to Colorado, which President Bush won the last two cycles.

"It may have been Woody Allen who said 90 percent of success is showing up," Obama said. "If I didn't show up, I wouldn't get many votes around here. If I did show up, I might get something going."

Western states are changing politically, Obama said, which could benefit Democrats in the fall. That was one of the topics of conversation with former President Bill Clinton earlier this week, he said.

"I was talking to Bill Clinton this week. We were talking about Colorado," Obama recalled. "He said, when I ran the first time, it would have been tough to win if Ross Perot hadn't been in the race, but you've seen a seismic shift in attitudes here."

But Obama told his supporters the race with Senator John McCain would be a difficult one. He explicitly asked for help and offered a brief self assessment of his evolution.

"I'm going to have to be a better candidate," Obama said. "You are going to have to make sure that over the next four months that outside of your family and your work, this is your project. If we all stand up and seize the moment, I guarantee you we will not just win Colorado, we will win the general election."

Earlier in the day, speaking to an invitation-only crowd of 400 supporters at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Obama turned his attention to public service. Obama announced plans to dramatically expand government-run volunteer programs, such as AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, creating an Energy Corps to work on renewable-energy projects and enlisting military veterans to find jobs for soldiers returning from overseas.

The Illinois senator also called for enlarging the Army by 65,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 27,000 troops.

Heading into the Independence Day weekend, Obama said that he believes people are clamoring to serve their country. He characterized his ideas as ones that will allow Americans to change the course of the country's history.

"In America, each of us is free to seek our own dreams. But we also must choose to serve a higher purpose," he said. "That's why it's called the American dream. It's not Bobby's dream or Jane's dream. It's the American dream."

The theme of increasing volunteerism is familiar ground for Obama, whose first job was with a nonprofit aiding residents in impoverished south Chicago.

His plans if elected include expanding the urban-service AmeriCorps program from 75,000 volunteers to 250,000 and doubling the size of the Third-World-focused Peace Corps. He also would increase the number of Americans in Foreign Service, create an online location where people could search for volunteer opportunities and launch a social network to get nonprofits, businesses and the government working together on projects.

Obama also said there should be a $4,000 annual tax credit for college students who volunteer at least 100 hours per year.

"Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July," he said. "Loving your country must mean accepting the responsibility to do your part to change it."

Though Obama echoed the words of both President John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., several in the audience said there was a freshness to the ideas.

Lance Stewart, an Army veteran who traveled with his family from Frederick for the speech, said a build-up of military forces after years of downsizing is "long overdue."

Arthur Derbigny, a Korean War-era Marine veteran from La Junta, said not even Kennedy put out such a broad call for people to serve their country.

"I do not recall hearing a presidential candidate say: ‘I want to enlist the American people's help and aid and advise,'" Derbigny said. "Most of all, they've told us: ‘Vote for me, then sit down and shut up.'"

Obama staffers said they decided to make the trip into Republican territory because of the town's military presence and the campaign's acknowledgement of Colorado's swing-state status in the upcoming election.

The senator was introduced to the crowd by Cori Gadzia of Colorado Springs, a recent Colorado State University graduate whose fiance is stationed at the Fort Carson Army post and is set to deploy to Iraq for a second time later this year. Gadzia choked up as she spoke about her fiance and was comforted by Obama.

The presumptive Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, has yet to visit El Paso County, but Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams said: "I can assure you that Senator McCain will be in Colorado Springs this campaign."

After the speech, Obama visited the Air Force Academy and North American Aerospace Defense Command before holding the fundraiser at The Broadmoor hotel.

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